Last Day in Uganda...

A wrap up day in Uganda…

Today was fun and predictable for the first time since we’ve been here.  We were able to sleep in a little bit and then all of the kids put on a show of singing, dancing, and competing for us.  The highlight had to be the 3-4 year olds who stripped to their underwear and then raced to see who could get dressed the fastest by themselves.  What a hoot!  The show went on for 2 hours and all of the kids did great.  They have such a great program here at Canaan’s. 

After lunch it was time for the first Dude Perfect shot of the trip.  We had a basketball rim, but nowhere to attach it and 3 bolts with nuts and a pile of salvaged lumber.  So the Hauschildt ingenuity kicked into gear.  Uncle Phillip (the worker in charge of the workshop) cut off a board and punched 3 holes in the board with a mallet and chisel.  Then Jason Crocket and I climbed to the top of the largest water tower on the campus (about 2 ½ stories tall) and we rigged it up to mount the rim at the top of the ladder.  I will admit that I wasn’t all that comfortable climbing a steel water tower that was built many years ago which was covered with rust and is not used anymore for some unknown reason.  Not to mention that the largest man here was sent up.  Anything for the shot, I guess.

Surprisingly, after a couple of trials, we got it mounted very securely.  The only problem was that since it was mounted on the ladder, I was stuck at the top of the water tower until the shot was made and the video production was complete.  Cory did great and it only took him 8 shots to make one.  Hopefully I’ll get some sort of a benefit from the YouTube fame of being next to the rim at the top of the water tower for Dude Perfect.

After the shot was done, we had some good bonding time with our kiddos and watched some kids play some great soccer.  Then Pastor Isaac (the founder of the Children’s home) shared his life experience with us.  It was an amazingly powerful testimony of God’s work and he is a great storyteller and I was lucky enough to sit right next to him for a front row seat.

The story took well over an hour to get through, but the basics were that back in the mid 1970s, the Ugandan government began persecuting Christian pastors, and he was known as one of their leaders.  The military came to his house, kidnapped him and drug him and 24 other pastors in.  Over the next day or so, he was chained, beaten, and tortured for his love of Christ.  Then, the pastors were lined up and shot. 

As the other pastors were being killed, they were falling quickly and knocked him over.  He was shot in the shoulder and leg on his way down (instead of in the chest like it was intended).  They took the bodies out of town and dumped them into a mass grave.  As he was clinging to life, God told him to climb out from under the bodies and his mission in life was to father the fatherless. 

After many people helped him to begin to recover from all of his injuries over the next 3 months, he escaped to Kenya until 1978.  He was reunited with his wife over 1 year after she thought he was killed.  He eventually made it back to Canaan’s and began his church and ministry to orphans.  It was truly a great testimony and I don’t know that you would believe it if you don’t hear it from his mouth and see all of his scars. 

After dinner we spent a little more time with our new friends and then it was time to pack up so we’re ready to depart for Ethiopia in the morning.

Uganda has been great!  I will miss the Man Up dorms. 

I hope Ethiopia is ready for us!